people who pay the balance is on layaway accounts for families that can use the help. it is a trend sweeping the nation. as we talked about earlier, often bringing up the best in people, and super storm sandy was no exception. here is another example. michael of brooklyn, check this out, every dayhe is treading his death in his red suit with his red cent deliverg presents to boys and girls. he gets requests from kids and has been blessed with a huge influx of thenaton's. michael johnson the qualifies for the nice list, and i'm thankful they're out there. that's my "2 cents more." here is how you vote in on the poll qestion we asked on gerriwillis.com with the emphasis this holiday season,ks. merry christmas. happy holidays. have a good one. ♪ lou: good evening. this beakers failure to win

republican support in the house for his plan the proposal on the fiscal cliff has embarrassed the speaker, but the speker's failure means a solution to the fiscal cliff is, if they're going to be one, now restng squarely upon preident obama. arsine to be vacationing president alone cannot propose legislation that wins majority support in both the house and senate, and the decision to go over the fiscal cliff now depends on his ability to successfully negoate and to forge a compromise that appeals to both republins and the far left in mr. obama's party. the president met with senate majority leader harry reid this afternoon and talked with speaker boehner to begin anew that effort to reach compromise. >> averting this middle-class tax hike is not a democratic responsibility or republican responsibility. with their foes the ameran people have determined that governing is a shared responsibility between both parties in this congress laws can only

pass with support from democrats and republicans, and that means nobody gets 100 percent of what they want. lou: there are only ten days remaining to the fisc cliff. president obama headed to value within actually minutes, and members of congress have also gone home for chrrstmas vacation already. in a news conference today, speaker boehner admitted negotiations witthe president have, indeed, been difficult. >> until the president on monday, these are my bottom lines. the president told me that his numbers, $1 trillion in ew revenues, 850 billion spending cuts was his bottom-line. he could not go any further. lou: and he didn't. the plan be option collapsing last night when he iled to get republican support to raise taxes on only those making more than a million dollars a year.

over in the senate majoty leader harry reid pounced on the very public embarrassing defeat. >> we knew the so-called plan b was no plan at all. it could not pss the senate. it turns out, it could notass the house either. it is oo bad speaker boehner wasted a week in his political stunt. lou: if there is no agreement, taxes will go up on all american taxpayers and hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic government spending cuts will kick in. potentially plunging the economy back into recession. after the boehner plan fails stock markets around the world reacted and reminded the president, congress, and th senate that more failures of leaders and failures to reach compromise in washington will have on pleasant and possibly exceedingly painful consequences wall street today sold off sharply despite more posite news on an economy that is now

obviously growing anduilding momentum. the dow jones industrial fell 121 points. the s&p down 39 and a half, nasdaq lost 29 points. to assess what is now a bright new economic prospects and the nsequence of further gathering in irresponsibility in washington, we are joined by economist john lonski, noted fund manager and strategist harvey eisen, and in other news from washington tonight president obama nominating senator john kerry to be the next secretary of state wih their views on kerry, benghazi, obama's foreign policy. we will be talking with fox his national security analyst k. t. mcfarland, former ambassador john bolton, and today the national rifle association exactly one week after the sandy hook school massacre has come up with a proposal for securing every school in this country, and it is such an obvious solution, sosimple it

immediately raises the question, why didn't anyone else think of it? well, we begin tonight with the fiscal cliff, justin days from the largest tax hike in american history was no moveent toward a fiscal cliff deal more in the action in the house or senate. the responsibility now to avoid massive taxes and draconian spending cuts resting squarely on the president. fox news chief white house correspondent ed henry with our report. >> just as our economy is really starting to recover and starting to see optimistic signs and we haveve seen actually some upside to from a whole range of areas, including two from including housing, now is not etime for more self-inflicted wounds , seven not the estimate from washington. lou: president obama's top advisers were quick to dump on the speaker come -- declaring he is backed into a corner.

>> they went om plan b to plan seal later. the fact that they could not even plalan -- pass that was an embarrassment. >> in private the president's advisers admit they are bit more apprehensive firmly believing mr. obama has the upper end of the public. if the market takes the hit to the commander-in-chief we will still face his share of heat for washington this function to may point republicans are hammering. >> the u.s. economy is estate here. millions of milies are counting on us to do something. look. it is the president's job, his job to find a solution that can pass the congress. he is the only one you can do it >> the president's response has been to make clear, he is already compromising. >> during the course of these negotiations i offered to compromise with epublicans in congress. i met them halfway on taxes and and i met them mo than halfway on spending. >> and the pesident addressed as in the briefing room tonight,

he urged lawmakers to go home for christmas. mayb even drink a little bit of eggnog, calmed down, cool off, week in order to try to wok all this out. the president now headed to ally himself to spen christmas with his family. on his way out the door he told us, see you next week whhch means he is coming back before new year eve in order to deal with this mess. lou: was named david axelrod who said seeyou later. it turns out mr. obama was paying attention. ed henry, fox news chief white house correspondent. president obama nominating senator john kerry to be th next secretary of state, claiming his entire life has prepared him for this role to lead america's foreign policy. >> over these many years he has -arned the respect and confidence of leaders around the world. he will not need a lot of on-the-job training and has earned the respect and trust of senate colleagues, democrats and republicans. fair to say that few individuals

know as many presidents and prime ministers or grass our foreign policies as firmly as john kerry, and this makes him a perfect choce to get american diplomacy in the years ahead. lou: and high praise for one of the people of this administration fromhis job was a natural, obviously coming after susan rice, ambassador rice w, well, withdrew her name from consideration. joining us now, former pentagon official, fox is security analyst, former u.s. ambassador to the united nations. what do yo think of this appotment? >> i think it will be more of the same, only worse. i think -- i think his views and the presidents are essentially the same. the president saw it up close and personal. for years on the senate foreign relations committee. kerrey has been wrong on nuclear proliferation about half the area, wrong and dealing with russia on arms contro and missile defense wrong on china.

i could go on, but i think that -- lou: we are about to run out of countries. >> the presint got what he wanted. it will be more of the same. lou: to you agree? >> i think it is pretty good choice. he won the election. he gets to choose. confirmed pretty readily? represents a sort of mainstream american foreign policy, a little bit less for me, but not as far left as the first joist. lou: interesting, john mccain and others came out wih really unreserved support for senator kerry. let's turn, if we may, to the faile in benghazi. and tis report looks to me, i no there are varying views on this. and other whitewash, it seems. >> and the misses thepoint. we know what happned before and during periods grew up some

allies, cover-ups. to me with the important thing is, what happened afterwards, which is nothing. then never hunted down, retaliated, respnded. look at what happed to the original september 11th. 1998, attacks on u.s. embassies in east africa and in 2000 attack on the u.s.s. cole, we did not respond. we beefed up security at the embassy, change the rules of engagement. a the leader before it september 11th at a record of videos saying american as i respond. let's go kill more americans. by failing to respond we knw o did this attack. we know where the training camps are. by failing to respond we have given them a green light davis again. lou: in the hope that we will learn the truth of what happened? that there will be anyone above the rank of assistantsecretary ever held accountable jack. >> i think the chances are remote. the one chance that is left is hillary clinton's testimony. both senator bob corker and

senator lindsay gramm have now said, there should not be a new secrettry of state and tell hillary clinton testifie. this certainly incentivizes john kerry to find some time on hillary's busy schedule in the next week or so and see if they cannot give her up there. this report does not answer a huge range o questions. the mainstream media after three months has paid his no attention so i think it's hard, but i think the fact is that the policy filures that ended up in that tragedy in benghazi have not been changed and with gary in office, every prospect is they will simply continue down the same road which invitee more tragedy. lou: it is a chilling that this 3-month of stonewalling has succeeded to this point and that there is no indication irrespective of the appearance of secretary clinton. t's hope that i am being overly skeptical here, but irrespective of her appearance before congress.

we will soon see a break in the stone wall. lou: i don't think they're well. when they come back there will be a new government, and the secrary of state. to me, again, the question is the middle east was at peace. we are now facing the middle east where from te atlantic ocean poteetially of with pakistan is a region in chaos, economic crisis, anti-american government, and fell rise of. [talking over each other] death. lou: i have to leave it there. thank you for being with us. great to have you with this. much more on that nomination and an unsettled, to put it mildly, middle east with the "a-team." ♪ that has been one week since the elementary school massacre in connecticut. the national rifle association talks to just a start today with proposals to make schoo safer.

james rose in with a livereport . the fiscal cliff fallback plan fails. mr. president of europe. it's your turn to lead. >> the president and congress take action, tax rates will go up on every american taxpayer and devastating defense cuts will go into effect in ten days. how we get their god only knows. lou: chief economist joining us with perspectives on what is next for the markets, the ♪ any tree on this lot is on m i'm the messenger, by the way. what's your name? joanne. with the hundreds that i save with progressive on my car insurance, this tree is on me. no way. way. this tree is on me. really?! yes. aah!

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♪ lou: ten days until the fiscal clef. that's right. still conting.

the market sell-off today on no solution and moody's chief economist and bedford of adviser and chairman ceo harvey eisen will join us in moments to make all of this rational and understandable. first, and the "moneyline," investors expressed disappointment in the republican failure to pass plan be by selling stocks of around the world. certainly adding to the drama today, a day in which four kinds of options expire, andhat is expected a quadruple preaching day, plunging onthe open, fighting its way back, ending with a loss of 121 points. that sounds louy, but it is better than itad been. the s&p down just over 13, nasdaq a little more than 29 points on the date. volume on the big board exceptional. 4 billion shares, the fourth busiest session of the year. but stocks did pretty well.

a winner. adelle of 56, s&p up 16 and a half, and aztec animosity. bonds rallying, the treasury ten year closing up one and three-quarters percent. crude oil down back under $8 per barrel. before the opening bell, the commerce department reported personal income and spending both rising by healthy margins. when adjusted for inflation after paying bills, the average working man and woman has about the same kind of money eft over as six years ago, along this started tracking in 1959. joining us now, chief economist for movies capital markets, harvey eisen, chairman and ceo of bedford alchemizes. an exhilarating day in the markets, would you say? >> in the rket, of course, is becoming increasingly concerned about the possibility of going over the cliff. of course, markets are still struggling to figure out what

the tax rates will look like for next year. lou: we are watching positive, one positive report after another on this economy. we could not have dreamed of anything the strong six months ago. and today for the first time, uttey dismissed because of the fiscal cliff. if you will, the boehner back flip on plaan b. >> yes. end? lou: what do you think will happen from here? >> we tied to this cliff now. that is all anybody talks about. they are playing it to the 11th hour and 59th minute. the smart guys that i know tell me that it will probably not get done, but then it will be done in the first first second week maximum in january. the stock market showed you, just give you little bit of a taste today about how the stock market feels about it not getting done.

lou: as i sten to the president today, and we are told that he will be taking off for hawaii. i mean, his take off was -- i'm sorry? there is the plane. and that, of course, picture being worth 10,000 words. i was about to say, we will wave to the president, which is another obvious given to the fact that air force one is waiting to win its way westward to hawaii. this is not a president to is overwhelmed by his failure to lead on this issue. it doesn't like it is now his issue, does this? i mean, it is over. now harry reid, mr. electric, and mr. obama get to go at it. >> look. advantage once again, to snatch the feed from the jaws of victory. the three of us on the next commercial break could figure

this out. the point -- lou: the two of you could. i would report. >> look, they just want political mileage, and they are getting it. it will bedone. it has to be done. then they will go on to the next on but it may not be done until the market falls by another five or 10%. it seems as though policymakers want to be beaten with a stake in order to get something substantial accomplished in terms of long-term budget deficit reduction. lou: i can tell you, your metaphor, it pro the is welcomed that nearly every year or in the country right now because the idea of being these pliticians with something right now is compelling. i mean, this is really getting stupid. >> it's like spare the market, spoil the policymakers. lou: as we look at these numbers that are coming in, you were watching, as we have talked for

some time. the bernanke bubble is rising. now, it's getting rather potent and driving this market. are we now seeing hat shift, we are talking about over four and a half billion shares today, above the average all week. it looks like we're starting to see a real turn to equities. are we? >> that could be the case. if you believe money market rates will stay close to 0% until the middle of 2015 and ten year treasurys will climb above 2% anytime soon. it makes a great deal of sense. >> i agree. it is going to happen, and he has his paddle to the metal. he is not a point change. lou: he being ben bernanke, president obama has to figure out ether or not he going to change. i want to read a few words. at that the president had already left for hawaii and had arrived. he says,voiding the

middle-css tax hike is not a democratic responsibility or republican responsibility. with their votes. this is our president speaking, with ebro's the american people have determined that goerning is a shared esonsibility, are you ready, between both parties, the same guy who has been fighting tooth and nail. he does not even talk like the same guy. >> he has to go a little bit further and reducing entilements long term if there is going to be any reason to believe that we are making substantial, credible progress and studying the deficit. lou: i'm going to quickly pose the one question. there is some smart money suggesting that we are going t see this thig get pushed beyond january 1st. >> oh, sure. lou: of retroactive, don't worry about it. just dust yourself off. you know, drop five gtten, 15,

20, whenever. do you think that it -- is it possible that we would see a market pulled year rather than sell-off giventhat they say they're going to fix it at some on certain point in the fuure? >> sure. the market can do hatever it wants, but if you go back to 2008 when they said no and the market collapse, the markets are very, very tough places to disagree. so wt is going to happen, you probably will have a short-term, but very quick decline, and the market does not have to wory about the response of the treasury bond market as long as you have the fed keeping long-term yields low. defeated by the superior firepower of the fed. they're gone. lou: awesome firepower, as we ve discussed. and that was a modest 770 points on the dow. >> he made the best point. the economy is getting better, and when they resolve this with

all this money around, you could really get a surprise in the stock market. lou: magical words. surprise up. thank you very much. thank you. merry christmas, gentlemen. merry christmas. coming up, new details about the fate of the ex-marine held in a mexican jail on gun charges and anti-gun protesters interrupted the nationalifle association proposal of a plan to make american schools safer. you'll find this on fascinating you'll find this on fascinating a live report straight ahead. you know how painful heartburn can be. for fast, long lasting lief, use doctor recommended gaviscon®. only gaviscon® forms a protective barrier that helps block stomach acid from splashing up- relieving the pain quickly. try fast, long lasting gaviscon®.

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lou: peoplecross the country pausing this morning to observe a moment of silence for the 26 people who were murdered at sandy hook elementarychool a week ago today. connecticut's governor, dan malloy, state's lieutenant governor and other local officials gathered in newtown's town hall.

bells from a neay church rang 25 times in memory of each life lost. the fifth straight day for the victims of last week's massacre. the national rifle association chose toda to make its first public comment, laying out its plan to keep america's schoolchildren out of harm's way. eir answer? armed guards in schools all across the country. fox news chief washington correspondent james rosen joins us now for theeport. james? >> lou, good evening. wayne laperriere, the executive vice president of the national rifle association cited the presence of armed and trained security officers at banks, courthouses, power plants, defense installations as well as the firearms that are carried by secret service and capitol police to protect the president and you al our lawmaks. >> what if, when adam lanza started shooting his way into sandy hook elentary school last friday, he had

been confronted by qualified, armed security? we would at least admit it's possible that 26 little kids, that 26 innocent lives might have been spared that day? >> the nra also retained asa hutchinson, former u.s. attorney, congressman and homeland security official, to develop a modelchool safety plan focused on issues of design and access control and training for students and educators alike that the group could, said coulde tailored by any school to suit its% individual needs. lou. lou: james, the two sides in this gun control debate, are now, if you will forgive the expression, they're armed up and going at it and getting ready for major confrontation. is there any compromise available in this, in this debate? >> as with the fiscal cliff it doesn't appear readily

discernable, lou. president obama released a video message vowing to fight for new gun control laws early next year. the down tours of this debate are already taking shape as leading democrats are pressing for renewed assault weapons ban and for new limit on semitick ammunition magazines. a leading senate democrat says she favored schools being allowed to have armed guards if they so choose but she then cited the columbine massacre. >> in fact ere were two armed law enforcement officers who twice engaged the shooters at column bind. that didn't prevent 15 from being killedand 23 wounded. >> however opponents of the assault weapons ban say that law was also in effect when columbine occurred and failed to prevent it. lou? lou: james, thank you. it is ex-orlando nary proposal comes from the national rifle association, a straightforward, simple and likely highly effective

proposal. certainly to, going to be part of that debate. james rosen, as always, thank you very much. >> thank you, lou. lou: president obama, the first family, are now, as you see ther, entering air force one, getting ready to head for hawaii for vacation. the president says he told the white house press corps that he would see them in a week. we may be taking bets on once he gets to hawaii after what has been an arduous both campaign, election and now, an effort to avoid the fiscal cliff, he may decide to linger for a few extra days but there the president is. they're buttoning up and getting read to take off on richly-earned vacation, the first family. a former marine jailed in mexico for entering the country with an antique shotgun will be released from pris we're to tonight and should be home

in time for christmas. he is 27-year-old jon hammar. he served in ira and afghanistan. he has been behind bars in mexico since august! a mexican judge ruled to free him today from a notorious prison conolled by drug cartels just 15 miles south of the mexico-u.s. border. credit to hammar's congresswoman and for intervening on his behalf and to our colleague, bill o'reilly, for loudly advocating for hammar's release. while secretary clinton con have lesses from concussion, president obama is not standing on ceremony. president kerry, you're up. "the a-team" is next. who else could be a gun owner while creating all sorts of anti-gun propaganda in his movies and then, finally, linking gun ownership to racm? michael moore?

you guessed it. contraception. cath thick -- catholics and the high court, the battle between church and state, also put your money on catholic league president bill donahue. we do are and he is copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both a anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood presre beforeta.

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lou: joining us now bill donahue, president of the catholic league. bill, i want to start by saying merry christmas and i want to find out where we are on the war on christmas. i mean this is getting to be a really peculiar kind of annual thing. it doesn't seem to recede. one si orrthe other doesn't seem to ever prevail and the contention goes on. who's winning? >> i think in the last couple years i'm somewhat optimistic. back in the 1980s the whole thing started with the aclu. they went into the courts to ban this from public policy.

1990s, got worse. multiculturalism, into the workplace, idea of not offending people. what peaked, 2005, 6, 7, wh came across our desk. 11, 12, "newsweek" said it is over and our side as won. i think that is premature. lou:newsweek" going out of business? it s sold for a dollar, wasn't it? so i'm not sure the first authority to cite on the anti-christmas controversy. >> you know what is going on? the on the other side, eight theist side. all atheists are not haters. i studied under hook at nyu, a jewish atheist. there wasn't anti-catholic bone in his body. we're talking about militant atheists, they don't have a whole lot of grassroots support. we do, people on traditionalists side. you take generals and troops in order win a culture war. right now it is in hand of a lot of troops. i can list one thing after

another where our side has been able to win, sometimes with the help of organizations like the catholic lgue or thomas moore law center but a lot of times people took it into their own hands. atheists have been turned off. they have a negative second. don't be good for goodness sake. now you have pictures of jesus with a crown of thorns, blood coming down this face, exploiting imagery, for a cheap political point that is what is turni people against the militant atheists, small communities all over the country which these nationally, and i won't go into their name, the national athiest organization, some smaller groups as well, choosing to sue to attack, threaten, suit against these all communities, who, and those communities, unfortunately, a few of them have been cowered by the expense that they're facing, the and the time constraint, constraints that would be imposed on

their city officials. >> it's true. you know what? a lot of ignorance on our side about this. for example, people say you n't have a nativity scene on public property. i was told that by the city of new yorkeducation department. you need to sue me. while you're at it sue the new york city parks department. on 11 blocks from here 59th and 5th, life-size nativity scene on public property not surrounded by secular symbols that is entirely legal. if i put it on the grounds of city hall that gives a certain governmental endorsement. i respect that endorsement. this is openo artists, musicians, cat licks, protestants and jews. they have the biggest menorah in the world. good for jews. atheists have on aut lying to us. don't believe their nonsenrs you cleaned that up. bill donahue, thank you very much. >> okay. lou: great to see you. have a very merry christmas. >> thank you, lou. lou: farmers unite, chickens

prevail. epa pressured to back down from horribly abusive is plan to regulate a west virgina icken farmer. why is that important? because the epa is backing down. up next, former homeland security director tom ridge joins us. colonel oliver north and former arkansas governor mike huckabee also among our guests. stay with us. deadly snowstorms sweeping across the midwest. holiday travel plans could get messy. we're coming right back. the boys use capital one venture miles for their annual football trip. that's double miles you can actuallyse. tragically, their ddy got sacked by blackouts. but it's our tradition! that's roughing the card holder. but with the capitaone venture card you get double miles you can actually use. [ cheering ] any flight, anytime. the scoreboard doesn't lie what's in your wallet? hut! i have me on my fantasy team.

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pick your [bleep] up. you're not [bleep] sittin' here. yes, i am. [laughter] move. move. [laughter/indistinct chatter] bully: give it to him hard. no, no, no, oww. announcer: every day, kids witness bullying... boy: why are you stabbing me with it? no! announcer: they want to help, but don't know how. no! oww. ohh, you guys... announcer: teach your kids how to be more than a bystander. visit stopbuling.gov. lou: massiv winter storm bearing down on the northeast and atlantic states with more than a foot of snow in places. snow, high winds, triggering a travel nightmare. more than a thousand flights canceled across the country, the vast majority in cities, boston, chicago, detroit, new york, philadelphia. the orm also causing whiteout conditions in parts of the midwest being blamed for traffic deaths in at

least five states tonight. a west virgina chicken farmer prevailing in his fight against the environmental protection agency. the farmer facing fines of more than $37,000 a day, because the epa accused him of violating the clean water act. the agency argued rain water could come into contact with dust, chicken feathers and chicken manure on the frm. and carry evething into a stream some 200 yards away. the farmer however filed a lawsuit in june and the epa today backed off its controversial order it had lost a very similar cas in terms of its overreach and abe of power before the supreme court earlier this year. angry liberal and hollywood hypocrite, that will teach him, michael moore, has a new theory why americans love guns. moore suggests it is because, well, simply peop are racist. >> not every house has a gun but we have over a quarter of a billion guns in

people's heems. homes of and they're mostly in the suburbs and rural areas where there is virtually no crime, and no murder. so why is that? who is going to break into the house? freckle faced jimmy down the street? i don't think so. i don't think that is what they're afraid of. it cuts right down to the heart of our race problem. lou: you know, he is so obviously a deep guy. that intellect is working, going deep, bringing up, dredging up some remarkable little morsels that he unfurther natalie shares too often. using that standard moore himself would be a racist, surrounded by racists because he once owned a gun, has a bodgy guard who carries a gun so he cavorts and accompanied by racists and supported by racists. gets so complicated by moore. we're delighted he kpeess at side of his nature so frequently. up next, america's leaders set to, well they're

going to get some coal for christmas from santa if a deal isn't reached on the fiscal cliff. actually it is on the way. there it is. "the a-team" taking up that and more. john fund, judith miller, stephen hayes, joins us next.

lou: a lot to talk about with "the a-team." "the american spectator" senior editor, john fund joins us. pulitizer prize winning junenalists fox news contributor, judith miller. stephen hayes, "weekly standard", fox news contributor. thanks for being here. let's begin with john kerry. are you excited about the presumive secretary of state? >> i think he was made for this job. if you can't be president i think john kerry wanted to

be secretary of state. he wanted it before hillary clinton got the job. he has been running around the globe trying to be a pseudo secretary of state. now he has got the job. i think he is fine choice considering this ministration is the most centralized administration when it comes to making decisions on foreign policy. the president makes them at the wite house. so he can travel and have a good time. lou: it was a little strange today. kerry didn't say anything while he was in the white house. it is only two faces and voices you're supposed to see when you go to the white us. it is carney and the president. >> there are two explanations for that. one, they don't want to make any news. john kerry occasionally committed verbal gaffs in the past. remember i voted for it when before i voted against it. he is proud of fact that he spea language of diplomacy which is french. you don't want to him to go up to the microphone and

laps lapse into french. lou:t mcfarland joined us. ambassador bolton is beside himself. he had run out of countries that kerry was going to mess up. what are your deepest fears? >> look, i mean for the ama aministration i think john kerry is fne choice. he will do exactly what the president tell him to do. he will help the united states pass what he once famously called the global test. this is what john kerry was made to do. i agree with judy. this is it sort of the perfect. lori: job for him. he is looking to have a job for this if not years but for decades. he will carry out the president's wishes. he will consult with the president. i don't think h will be driving u.s. foreign policy in any sense of that word. lou: presumably he will not be easily concussed and therefore not available for the congress for discussion of policy and of events taking place on his watch. isn't it a bit, just a little, i don't know,

callous for the president to name the suuccessor of thh secretary of state before she really signed while convalescing? seems somehow cold to me. unmeggsal. >> perhaps, lou, i know you're a very sensitive soul. lou: thank you, screwed did. what are you laughing about, hayes? >> perhaps he wants her to step down so when she is being grilled on capitol hill about benghazi she is no longer secretary of state. >> lou, phaps the president is trying to show his deep pressure shun for all of the hillary clinton showed susan rice which was the original choice for secretary of state. lou: there is that. reciprocity makes the political universe of washington go around. we'll go around. back with the a-team in just moments. we'll take up, we'll find out why the nra seems to be the most effective advocate right now for public school safety. safety. stay with us. i always wait until the last minute.

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by december 22nd we went to a park and we handed people 10- and 20-pound sandbags. here's what happened. just truly feel winded. i can feel it in my back. i didn't realize what extra weight on the body feels like. oh, i definitely felt it in my knees. you can easily put 2, 3, 4, or 5 pounds on in a year. woman: 10 pounds makes a big difference. no one liked carrying the extra weight, but people do it all the time. wouldn't youike to drothat weight and stop picking up more?

man: i think this is a lifechanger for me. lou: i want to turn to the fiscal cliff with our panel but first, very quickly, touch on the nra wich proposed armed guards, armed policemen, at public schools to provide safet i thought it was a straightforward, common sense idea. don't you agree with it? >> i do not, lou. i do not. did not help people at columbine. people serving as guards at school not qualified to carry weapons. the expense of it. we have 100,000 schools, say, add up $50,000 per guard. we'll get a billion dollar price tag. when we're cutting back on everything, i don't think this will protect our children. >> i think nra should have said, we should allow one person at the school to have a concealed carry permit, if they choose and if they

choose to carry a gun, allow them to do that. right now the gun-free zones a ludicrous. lou, every mass murder in the united states since1950, with one exceptionas taken place in a gun-free zone. that didn't work. lou: steven, your thoughts. we'll turn to one of your favorite topics. >> you know what is interesting is john fund had a very good piece putting in contest the recent history of gun violence in the country and wayne laperriere seems to buy into the broader narrative, the mainstream media narrative, that gun violence is in fact on the rise. and oke to it as if it is a cris which i thought was very interesting tack for him to take in the press conference. >> gun violence is half what it was 20 years ago. half. lou: that is inconvenient narrative for the pro-gun control? >> i think right now the narrative that counts is the narrative surrounding 26 people who are not with us and the 20 children who are not with us and the search for ways to prevent this

from happening again. assault weapons ban. lou: that sure calls for a broader examination of the issues including mental health, the legal profession and necessities, the requirements of for involuntary commitment of those who are mentally ill, who have mental disorders. this plays out so tragically and broadly, that reflective resort to gun control, seems to hardly answer the question. >> and you know, lou, you know what was very interesting the president made remarks on fiscal cliff. he had a brief mention of shooting and need to explore solutions. after last week saying we needed to ta exactly kind of things you're suggeing, tonight he mentioned one, gusafety. he did not talk about mental health. he did not talk about the culture. lou: unfortunately becomes the default. very quickly will we have a solution on the fiscal cliff, john fund? >> probably not because i think president obama actually wants to go over the cliff. i think it is terribly irresponsible. gives him all the revenue